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‘Ant-Man’ thrills on comic & subatomic levels
The playful and appealing “AntMan and the Wasp,” out Friday, like “Ant-Man,” seen in 2015, are outliers in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. They feel far more self-contained than the sprawling, interconnected capers featuring the other superheroes.
The buggy movies are local, family-oriented stories. They even manage to make the stakes appropriately sized, which is ironic, given how much AntMan (Paul Rudd) and his new partner, the Wasp, enjoy playing with the scale and proportion of everyday objects.
The film does kick off with one doozy of a connection to the rampaging posse of The Avengers. Scott, better known as Ant-Man, is at home outfitted with an ankle bracelet, under house arrest for his participation in the smackdown in “Captain America: Civil War.”
He's lost touch with Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), the scientist who invented his sizeswapping Ant-Man suit, and Pym's enterprising daughter, Hope (Evangeline Lilly), who has stepped into her mother's suit as the Wasp. He wiles away the hours playing with his adorable daughter (Abby Ryder Fortson), counting down the days until he's out from under the watchful eye of Agent Woo (Randall Park).
Like “Ant-Man,” the latest chapter in the franchise is driven by a father-daughter theme. But mom's in the mix, too. Hank and Hope are determined to save Hope's mother (Michelle Pfeiffer) from the subatomic realm, where they lost her decades ago. And since Scott went subatomic, they think he's the link to her location. They've got all the technology in their handy lab, which helpfully shrinks to portable briefcase size when needed.
The plan is complicated, with two nefarious types trying to get their hands on the lab and the tech inside it: their shady components dealer Sonny Burch (Walton Goggins), and a mysterious hooded figure, Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), who can phase through matter. Burch wants the lab for its value, and Ghost for what it contains — a possible cure for her debilitating, constant particle phasing. It becomes a big game of chase through the streets of San Francisco, made all the more entertaining through the constant size-shifting both Scott and Hope get up to.
There are no limits to Rudd's easy charms, and he's surrounded by a cast that makes it look easy. Pena is once again a standout, and Park almost takes that crown from him this time around. But his best scene partner is right there in the title. Lilly owns the role with such style, grace and power that Ant-Man had better make room on that billing block for the Wasp.